Abstract
COVID-19 infection typically causes pneumonia with bilateral changes on Chest radiograph. There is significant hypoxia and use of oxygen for patients admitted to hospital is standard. The use of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) in patients with COVID-19 has now become established as a common clinical practice based on recent experience. It is given as part of “best endeavours” treatment in the absence of sufficient evidence to guide best practice. The use of CPAP as a step up in clinical care is now common but has a poor evidence base.
Using routinely collected data, the use of CPAP as a supportive non-invasive ventilatory treatment is described in 35 patients with COVID infection. Patients given early CPAP and in particular within 48 hours of admission, are shown to have a better outcome (a significant probability of lower mortality) than patients who received late CPAP (more than 48 hours after admission).
Although the analysis is affected by a small sample size, the results have shown good evidence that supports the early use of CPAP in patients with COVID-19 infection.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Clinical Trial
This was audit based data and was registered as a clinical audit (DB Ref 4639)
Funding Statement
No funding has been received for this article.
Author Declarations
I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.
Yes
The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:
Wrightington Wigan and Leigh NHS Acute Trust research oversight committee
All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived.
Yes
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Data Availability
All data for the article is available from the authors.